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"SEEDS OF MY LIFE " by Albert ChiatReviewed by his daughter – Michal Peleg

Albert Chiat ( 1914 – 1987), 15 years old and alone, made his way from his village in Lithuania to Cape Town.

"Seeds of my life" tells the story of a young boy who left home to find a life for himself.
Suffering from poverty in his childhood, he dreamed of earning money to send home to his family.

Albert Chiat's life was full of adventure, of wisdom, of humor and of faith.

Having a business mind he was always on the lookout to make a deal, to make a profit, to better himself and always in an honest manner.

And so, slowly but surely he worked his way up the ladder and became a respected man in business, at the sports club and in the synagogue, and actually - in all walks of his life.

In his book, he captures our interest, fascinates us, makes us laugh, makes us sad, and gives us an insight of his life in Lithuania, in Russia and in Cape Town.

It seems that every day in his life was an adventure!

During his childhood years poverty was abundant in the shtettl.

As a young boy one entrepreneurship was to sell eggs. " My career as an egg dealer did not last long…. One day I bought a lot of eggs… a farmer passed by on his sled and offered me a lift… I sat in the small sled alongside … the horse suddenly jerked... I fell off with the basket of eggs and they all broke. They smashed into little pieces and my heart was broken too. He had a good laugh and I had a good cry."

Being a Zionist he said "I want to retire in Israel so that I can walk around with a kippa on my head and no one will say anything" . And so he did.

In Israel he didn't stop …

Living in Netantya, and being an avid bowler he had nowhere to play nearby, so what did he do? Together with his wife Debby, heestablished the Netanya Lawn Bowls Cub in the Wingate Institute, and was president for many years.

But that wasn't enough. He volunteered at the soldiers' kiosk, was active in the synagogue, visited his children and grandchildren and much much more… As they say - there was never a dullmoment in his life.

A book critique wrote : "Two old sayings come to mind: that everyone has at least one good story to tell – and he has quite a few - and that when a man talks shop about what he knows, he usually talks sense. Albert Chiat has done both engagingly, artlessly and honestly."

Albert Chait’s book can be purchased from the Telfed offices for a 25 NIS donation to Keren Telfed.

(If you want the book posted to you, please add an additional 20NIS to your Keren Telfed donation).

Postscript:

Alongside our father in all spheres was our mother – Debby, who devoted herself to raising their 4 children ( Evelyn, Neville, Marcelle and Leonard), and in doing voluntary work mainly in Wizo and many other organizations for raising money for Israel .

Debby , now 93½, lives in Netanya, has 10 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren... so far.

Max, Albert's older brother who is prominent in the book, also made Aliya with his wife Riva, as did their 3 children (Eleanor, Benjy and Shirley) .

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